The Utah Jazz are seemingly intent on letting go of star guard Donovan Mitchell via trade at the soonest time possible. According to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, the Jazz have reason to believe that Mitchell would leave the team once he becomes an unrestricted free agent. At the earliest that would be by the end of the 2025-26 NBA season when Donovan Mitchell has the option to pick up his player option in the 2025-26 NBA season that is worth $37.84 million.

“Well, let’s start with this: the overwhelming feeling among league insiders is that Mitchell is likely to sign outside of Utah at the first available opportunity in 2025. Mitchell considers New York home. Mitchell has spent the majority of this offseason in New York this year. His skills trainer, Chris Brickley, operates out of a gym in the city. It makes sense that he’d be interested in living there full time.”

Larsen also floated the idea that Donovan Mitchell might not be feeling the “socio-political” environment in Utah.

“There are sociopolitical issues in Utah, too. Donovan Mitchell has been outspoken about incidents of racism of Utah, especially when directed at kids. He spoke out against Utah’s critical race theory resolution, which earned him derision from Utah Senate president Stuart Adams.”

The Jazz have already made a loud noise early in the offseason when they sent a cornerstone in the form of Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves, signifying the start of a potential rebuild in Salt Lake City. That would become a full-blown reconstruction phase for the Jazz if they do indeed ship Donovan Mitchell for what should be a rich haul of assets in return.